Sumitomo : Malaysia Coil Center Business Company Becomes Wholly-Owned Subsidiary

Sumitomo Corporation (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer: Kuniharu Nakamura) has increased its stake in Sumiputeh Steel Centre Sdn. Bhd. (Head Office: Selangor State, Malaysia; hereinafter, 'Sumiputeh Steel Centre') from 50% to 100% and made the company a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Since being established in 1980 by Sumitomo Corporation in partnership with the Malaysian law firm Zain & Co. in order to satisfy the requirements imposed by restrictions on foreign investment in Malaysia at the time, Sumiputeh Steel Centre has been providing high-quality coil center services centered on the supply of steel sheets to household appliance and automotive manufacturers who have moved into Malaysia as well as local construction material manufacturers, thereby securing the largest share of the Malaysian market, earning a high name recognition, and helping to create jobs and invigorate the local economy. Now that deregulation has made 100% foreign ownership of companies possible, Sumitomo Corporation reached an agreement via negotiations with its joint venture partner on making Sumiputeh Steel Centre a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation in pursuit of its policy of maximizing the corporate value of this subsidiary through even more effective utilization of the resources it has invested therein.
Malaysia's sheet market is expected to see stable growth in future, as Japanese manufacturers' key manufacturing bases continue steady production and as the boom in infrastructure investment plans such as the construction of a high-speed railway connecting Singapore and Kuala Lumpur boosts expectations that demand among non-Japanese and local companies, particularly those in the construction materials sector, will expand.
Sumitomo Corporation has built up its coil center business in Asia over many long years, in the process establishing extensive procurement and sales networks and accumulating quality management know-how. By making Sumiputeh Steel Centre a wholly-owned subsidiary, Sumitomo Corporation is aiming to utilize management resources more effectively and to further bolster its competitiveness and expand its share in the Malaysian steel sheet market, which is expected to see steady growth.